


starlight

by failings



Category: Naruto
Genre: Multi, Slow Burn, friends to something more
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-14
Updated: 2017-01-14
Packaged: 2018-09-17 10:40:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 3,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9320048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/failings/pseuds/failings
Summary: He had made the mistake of being nice to her. So it was completely his fault that she fell in love with him, really.





	1. Chapter 1

**one.** Hinata had fallen into love (like) at the tender age of three, the object of her affections was a boy who happened to shuffle by her house daily. His hair had reminded her of starlight and it caught her eye in a way nothing else ever had—she had likened it to the moon in her more poetic doodles. Although Hinata had never spoken with him, her imagination supplied her with everything she had ever needed to know. She imagined him to be calm and kind; a gentle hand holding hers, a soothing voice lulling her to sleep. Other times she thought he would be spontaneous and silly and loving; running with her through fields and lifting her into the bright sky. And one day, when she had seen him too many times and had discovered the beauty of glitter, she forgot. 

But that never stopped her from wishing for a boy with silver hair to whisk her away.


	2. two and three

**two.** Hinata stood in front of the mirror and considered the skirt around her waist. It was plait, a dark navy colour made of thick material and Hinata found herself smiling, she was wearing a high school uniform—she was a high school student now. After years of begging and studying, her father had finally allowed her to go to school, on the condition that she maintain her studies and prove herself as the heir to the Hyuuga. Hinata bit her lip, no pressure at all. But, as she looked into the mirror she assured herself—she would do her best to make her father proud and everything would work out for the best. She took another deep breath and smiled at her reflection, perhaps she would even make a friend. 

* * *

**three.** The drive had allowed Hinata to prepare herself but it left her to stew in her anxiety. As she twiddled her thumbs she considered the myriad of possibilities. _I could be happy, but maybe I won’t be, maybe I’ll be bullied, maybe_ – “Are you alright, Hinata?” The question came from Hanabi who was looking at her sister with concern. “Are you sure you want to do this?” 

Hinata nodded and exhaled, wondering how to assure both her sister and herself that everything would turn out fine. She gave Hanabi a weak smile, “I’m sure I’ll be okay, I can always go to the sick bay.” 

Hanabi looked unsure but nodded, slipping her earphones into her ears before she resumed gazing out of the car window. Hinata sighed and began to twiddle her thumbs, everything would be fine. Neji, who sat up front, turned towards his cousin and spoke; “You will be fine Hinata-sama, I will be there if you need me.” When he turned away, Hinata’s eyes rested on the back of his head, trying to read his intentions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i combined the chapters because they are so short and i felt bad


	3. four

**four.**

"Hey Neji, what's up?" The question came from an athletic brunette; one of Neji's many frustrations (not that he intended to share that with her).

He nodded at Tenten in acknowledgement and replied with a decidedly cool: "I see you've finally returned to school."

He watched as the corner of her lips quirked in response and waited for her booming laugh to soothe his anxieties. As expected, Tenten raised her head and laughed, her mouth an open and lovely pink thing (not that he intended to tell her that). Neji relaxed at the sound.

With looser shoulders than before, Neji began to look around for the green blur he associated with his only other friend. "Where's Lee?" He asked Tenten.

"Oh, I forgot you weren't here to see it happen. He met with Gai-sensei and then they decided to do a couple of laps around the grounds." She considered Neji with curious eyes, "Now that I think about it, you're usually here before me. What happened?"

Neji frowned as he remembered, his cousin had decided that she wished to go to school and had spent a total of fifteen minutes considering her own reflection which meant they had left fifteen minutes later than usual and ultimately arrived thirty five minutes later than usual. Neji pressed his lips together before speaking. "H- My cousin, has decided that she would like to take up a life of normalcy and join the school. We had to wait for her." He said. Tenten nodded sympathetically, eyes drifting towards the floor as she considered her next words.

"This is the cousin you mentioned, not Hanabi, but the one…" She hesitated, hoping she wouldn't hurt her friend with her question.

Neji exhaled and said, "Yes." His body tensed as he recalled every silence between him and his uncle, every quiet expectation of Neji to be exactly like his—to be prepared to give Hinata his life. A sympathetic pat on the shoulder from Tenten reminded him of his surroundings and he gave his friend a weak smile of thanks.

"Come on, let's go find Lee."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> notes: realise i should've mentioned this earlier, kakashi will appear later as a teacher, but it'll take awhile because when i wrote this i sort of wanted it to follow Hinata and her experiences and then grow... I'm wondering if i should untag kakashi until he appears... hmmm but then if someone didn't like the pairing they may be confused later on... i'll leave it for now, thank you for reading!


	4. five

**five.**

Hinata was seated in her chair, waiting dutifully for morning homeroom to end, when it happened.

"So, your name is Hinata right?" A girl stood in front of her and in all of two seconds Hinata found herself cautiously considering every aspect of the girls appearance, from her stylishly maintained nails to her fashionably and rebelliously altered uniform.

In that moment, as she looked upon the gorgeous girl before her, Hinata felt more a diffident teen than an accomplished clan heir and began to feel oddly ashamed of her own bare face and dry cuticles. She nodded then, answering both the girls question and attempting to quickly accept her own flaws.

"What a beautiful name, sunny place," the girl said. She smiled at Hinata before jerking a thumb in her own direction. "I'm Ami." Ami then turned to a group of girls across the room: "Hey! Guys! Come talk to Hinata!"

Hinata beamed, it was happening—she was making friends!

At the front of the room, Shiranui Genma, the homeroom teacher of class 2A, resigned himself to the noise of his classroom and silently hoped the principal would be understanding.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fun fact (not really, it's more of a series of facts): Hinata is sixteen turning seventeen in this fic. she transferred into the school in the second semester, which in japan begins in september. i intend to try to keep the education system as similar to that of japan as possible but, as i feel that the school will also be shaped by my own 'school experience'. hopefully it goes as smoothly as possible.


	5. Chapter 5

**negative x.**

The only sound in the room was that of Hinata's careful placement of her glass against the oak table, or at least, this was what Hinata felt as she attempted to amass the will to speak. One, two, three—

"Father." The word was hesitantly thrown into the air. A shift, a pause. "I would… like to go to school this year."

A shift, a pause. Hiashi Hyuuga considered his daughter's words and began to chew in what Hinata hoped was a thoughtful manner. "What does Yuhi-san think?" Hiashi eyed his daughter, amused by her caught expression. She made her way to speak, as if cautiously navigating dangerous waters. And if he were being honest with himself (though he made a habit not to do so), she was.

"K- Kurenai-sensei has stated that I should be ahead of those in my cohort and that if I were t- to transfer at any time, this would be the best possible time."

Hiashi sat back, "I see." He set his chopsticks down and took a sip of his drink. Hanabi, his youngest daughter, eyed him hopefully unlike his eldest, who appeared to be avoiding all eye contact. "Hinata, you have been born in the same span of years as many clan heirs of Konoha, including the Uchiha and the Nara, two extremely competitive clans. If you feel that you will be able to accurately represent the gifts of the Hyuuga and shoulder the responsibility of such a position, then I see no fault in your pursuit of high school. However, if it is to anyway impact your studies, I will see to it that you are removed from the school immediately. Is this understood?"

Hanabi was grinning widely and even Hinata, as shaken as she was from the prospect of representing her clan, found it difficult to restrain her joy. "Thank you very much, father." Hinata said, with as much composure as she could muster. "I- I will not let you down."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> note: so this is a simple background piece that will probably maybe be referenced in the future. it's a negative chapter because it takes place before chapter one.


	6. six

It was 12:10 and Hinata was dreading her next class. Advanced mathematics was something she had always enjoyed, it allowed her to think creatively, to control a situation and ultimately, it was a constant in her life she had often found herself relying on in times of great distress.

And because of this, Hinata found herself anxiously hoping that the class would not disappoint.

At the strike of the bell, which apparently was not an actual  _bell_ so much as a segment of classical music (The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba, one teacher had mentioned offhandedly), Hinata found herself anxiously twisting in her seat and desperately twiddling her thumbs. She continued to silently agonise over the endless possibilities for eleven minutes before realising that the teacher was indeed late on the first day of the semester.

Ami, who had been chatting with another girl (Fuki), seemingly realised Hinata's state of unaware only then. "Oh! That's right, you wouldn't know because you're new. Hatake-sensei is  _never_ on time. It's like, his  _thing._ " Fuki nodded in agreement and began to speak.

"Yeah! He even shows up to the assembly's late, it's like he doesn't even care." She leaned forward, as if she were conspiring with both girls, and began to whisper. "One time, during an assembly, I looked to my right and he was just sitting there on his phone! And then, he turned to Mitarashi-sensei and said something like: 'How much longer do you think we'll be here, another two years?'" Fuki's imitation of their teacher was an odd garbled thing and it was just strange enough that it prompted the laughter of all three girls. As their laughter dissolved away, Fuki began to speak again, this time in a more serious tone. "But, I must say, he's a pretty good teacher—especially when you compare him to someone like Sato-sensei."

Ami decided to speak then, "That's true, despite being an annoying guy for the most part, Hatake-sensei is one of the better teachers in the school—it's almost as if he condenses lessons so that they can be as short as possible." Hinata blinked, maybe that's why he felt no pressure to be on time. Although, she corrected herself, it was more likely that he was an efficient teacher so that he could feel no such pressure.

Fuki seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Hinata, as her next words were: "He probably does it so he can be late all the time."

Ami turned to Hinata, as if she were to expand on their explanation of the mysterious Hatake-sensei, when a student signalled the class to quiet down. A hush fell over the room, and each student listened to quick footsteps with bated breath, desperately hoping that the person walking down the hall would not interfere with their potential free period.

Unfortunately, that was what happened.

The door opened and a head peeked in through the doorway. "Hello children!" The voice belonged to an eccentrically dressed, bushy browed man. Hinata found herself admiring his confidence—not many people had the courage to wear bright green in public after all. So this was Hatake-sensei, she thought. He didn't strike her as an inactive or lethargic person, but she supposed it was likely that he was excited because it was their first day back. The man looked around, before laughing. "Ah! Hatake-sensei must not have returned from his break! No worries children, I will alert him to the time as soon as possible." At this, he gave a blinding smile and multiple students groaned in dissatisfaction. Hinata blinked, oh. Someone else.

Then, one girl spoke up from her seat (Hinata couldn't believe she had pink hair, how very  _rebel,_ she thought). "Maito-sensei, are you sure you have to? The whole class is perfectly fine with doing some self study and Hatake-sensei really insists that we work on our ability to independently study without the prompting of a teacher." When the man looked unconvinced, the girl added, "You know, for University." Hinata watched as Maito-sensei considered her words.

Maito-sensei seemed almost... touched? It was a surreal moment for Hinata, who had honestly expected for the girl's plea to be ignored. With what Hinata hoped weren't watering eyes, Maito-sensei spoke. "That Hatake-sensei, really such a good teacher, such great ideas–"

"That's flattering, coming from you." Came a voice from outside the room.

The sound of a soft curse drew Hinata's attention to the face of the girl who had spoken up. It seemed that this was another unfortunate in their running series. She watched as the pink haired girl nudged the sleeping boy next to her in her apparent frustration.

Maito-Sensei turned towards the voice and began to speak in what Hinata imagined he considered a whisper tone. "Ah! My rival, it's great to see you–"

"You saw me forty minutes ago." Answered the voice (this time, Hinata was almost certain it was her math teacher).

"–I meant to mention this earlier, but I wanted to ask if you had already considered my idea about–"

"Yes, I think it's a very good idea–"

Maito-sensei interrupted his colleague then with an excited laugh. "I'm so happy you agree with me! Can we talk about it soon, if not now, perhaps four?"

Although it was phrased like a request, Hinata felt as if there was no possible way one could decline Maito-sensei's offer—it seemed almost cruel.

"That's fine. Now, I think I should–"

"Ah, yes. Go! And have fun!"

With that, one of the two men sprinted away from the classroom. Hinata was proud to note that she did not struggle in discerning which of the two that it was.

A man leisurely stepped into the classroom and began to talk slowly. This time, Hinata was certain (a strong 99%, certain) that the eccentrically dressed (in an eyepatch, a sick mask and what appeared to be a very stained overcoat) man standing at the front of the room was her math teacher.

Awkwardly, each student began to stand and shuffle around their seats as to stand behind their seats as they usually would. "Good morning class."

The answering greeting was a tired thing, and sounded more like a serious of high pitched groans to Hinata than an actual phrase. With that, the students began to clumsily position themselves onto their chairs once more, half-heartedly waiting for their teacher to continue. "I understand that we have a new student in the class and I will assume that all introductions have already been made." Hinata nodded, just in case there were any doubts—but apparently there were none, because Hatake-sensei did not look her way once. With that, Hinata concluded that his actions had simply been perfunctory. How... empty.

Hinata opened her book and clicked her pen, certain that she would enjoy this math class no matter what.

"Alright, for the next five minutes I'm going to explain the basics of this topic to you, I'll give you time to write stuff down, so for now pens down."

Sighing, Hinata placed her pen back against the table, resisting the urge to copy the notes on the board as they appeared.

At least she was ahead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I'm still not sure I'm in love with this chapter)
> 
> fun fact: everyone is wearing socks indoors, so this is the reason no one hears Kakashi moving indoors/no one makes a signal that he's coming. why does everyone hear Gai? well, he walks a certain way because of his experience as a fighter. in this story, he is constantly prepared for someone to try and sweep up his legs, meaning he walks in a way that makes him constantly brush his feet against the ground as to prevent that from happening, i don't think it'll come in handy but who knows, just a fun little thing


	7. seven

The conclusion of her math class had brought Hinata a great deal of pleasure. Finally, she could relax, sit back and worry about one thing (as opposed to fifteen). That one thing? Her social life.

It was clear to Hinata that she had found a spot with Ami and her merry band—she could bond over her forgotten textbook with Fuki, act shy with Sana (a seemingly demure girl with and of course, follow Ami. This much had allowed her to face the cliched lunch experience with a certain kind of calm. Of course, Hinata realised in hindsight, senses of calm often portended misfortune.

"So, Hinata-san, are you by any chance related to Hyuuga-sempai?" The question came from Kasumi, a girl Ami had only introduced to her minutes ago. She was the fourth in their group, and the last to have made Hinata's acquaintance. Hinata frowned at the question, feeling that her strange pale eyes should have been a clear enough identifier. She was not certain, but in that moment some part of Hinata felt that Kasumi must have been attempting to slight her in some way.

Hinata considered her words carefully, she didn't want to come off as a material clan heir, nor as the pushover her father regarded her as. With the slightest shift in the way she held her chin, Hinata spoke as smoothly as possible. "Yes, uh, Neji is my cousin."

At this, Kasumi sprang from her seat with a feminine shriek of excitement. "Really?! I thought it was too good to be true, he is  _so_  dreamy. You must tell me all about him, I mean–" Hinata found herself almost amused by the sight. Kasumi was a rather tall girl with a magnificent head of curled hair and to Hinata, she appeared to be a strange sort of amazon woman, who spent more time beating men than fantasising over them. The gap between her expectation of the girl and the reality was too strange and so the image took precedence over any questions about Kasumi's odd choice of affection in Hinata's mind.

Ami flicked Kasumi's shoulder in a casual reprimand. "Come on, don't make Hinata tell you all about her cousin, I'm sure that'd be super boring for her." Ami turned to Hinata cooly, purple strands of hair falling into her eyes. Hinata almost felt like blushing, Ami was  _cool._ "Don't mind her, sometimes she gets really into guys. She chased Uchiha Sasuke for two years only to give up on him when there was a rumour about him and Ino (Kasumi grimaced at the name)."

Sana bobbed her head forward, subconsciously signalling the other girls that she intended to speak. She spoke when Kasumi stopped murmuring curse words at Ami. "It's not that intense, it's just… sometimes love is like that, you know. You… go a bit too far because of how passionate you are." This was an interesting proposal to Hinata, whose only exposure to romance had been through the classic novels of the Hyuuga library and the cheap romances she had managed to stumble upon online.

Beside her, Fuki laughed. "Wise words, but… that doesn't let Kasumi off the hook for being a bit too desperate (Kasumi began murmuring about Fuki)." she turned to Ami, "And also, you can't talk to Kasumi about being romance obsessed because you can be just as bad as she is sometimes (Kasumi stopped murmuring about Fuki, appeased by the equal treatment)." As if to make her point, Fuki added. "You are the one who started that fight with Ino last year."

Ami hurumphed, looking snubbed. Silence fell over the group, and with that, Kasumi sat back in her chair, where she was sat next to Fuki and opposite Ami. Hinata looked closely at the table before her, laminated wood, how… practical.

As if to forget what they had been talking about, Ami turned to Kasumi. "So, Hyuuga, huh? I didn't know your type was dark, tall and moody." Here, Ami paused and waited for a laugh. When none came, she made a face at her circle of friends. "Come on, guys… girls, that was a good one." When she met Hinata's eye, she cringed a little, "Oh, sorry, Hinata... I didn't, you know."

Before Hinata was able to communicate her understanding of the matter, Fuki said. "Seriously Ami, knock it off... You're both equally bad."

Kasumi, seemingly choosing to ignore Fuki's judgement of the situation, stood and exclaimed with a huff, "You like the moody guys just as much as I do!" Then, like Ami, she turned to Hinata, who appeared ready to nod away all concerns about her emotional wellbeing, because it was true; Neji was rather moody. When Kasumi met Hinata's eye, her body and demeanour changed, "Oh no! I've been so ruffled by all of this that I forgot to apologise... I hope you know I wasn't trying to be bitchy about the whole Neji thing, I just, what with you guys being a  _big_  family (Hinata felt that the word 'big', did not refer to the large volume of Hyuuga) and all–" Fuki elbowed her friend in the ribs, and Hinata watched the realisation wash over Kasumi's face in the second it took her to change the subject, "I mean, I just really like Hyuuga-sempai! That's all."

Hinata nodded, feeling a bit flustered by the girl's exuberance. It seemed she had misjudged Kasumi, the thought was a reassuring one. She tried to voice her feelings but stopped herself when Kasumi swiftly turned around back to Ami. Kasumi raised her finger in the air, as if she were to accuse Ami of something but within seconds her finger dropped to her side. "Uh, I was gonna keep going, but uh, Fuki's right, well not right but..." Hinata watched as Kasumi sheepishly raised her hand to the back of her neck. "Sorry, Ami, for getting aggressive… It's not like it was gonna help."

Ami was surprised, this much Hinata could tell. But apparently the two fought regularly because suddenly Ami was laughing. "I guess that was our fight of the day… Sorry Kasumi, I think I'm still a bit bitter about… last year. Ah!" She looked at Hinata, "Sorry, Hinata it's weird if we keep on talking about last year without actually  _talking_ about it."

Hinata shook her head, feeling curious but not enough to risk whatever tenuous friendship had been established between her and the volatile group of friends before her. "It's fine, you don't have to feel pressured to say anything."

Just as Ami opened her mouth to say something, Sana stopped her with a sentence: "Um, girls. We only have like another twenty minutes to eat…"

At this, Kasumi's eyes widened and Hinata watched as she scrambled towards her bag to fish out her lunch box. "Oh my! How could I have been so distracted, and I have salmon too…" Quickly, she opened the container. Hinata made to do the same while Sana sat as she waited for the other girls to eat. At the still forms of Fuki and Ami, Kasumi stopped in the middle of opening her lunch box. "Do you have food? Are you guys okay?"

Both girls laughed before turning to each other with a twinkle in their eye. Hinata wasn't sure what they had been thinking, but she imagined it was something pleasant, because after each girl had begun eating, there was no more talk about  _last year_ or the mysterious Ino.

The conclusion of lunch, like the conclusion of Hinata's mathematics class, brought Hinata a great deal of pleasure. There was only one thing to worry about. What was it? The maintaining of her newfound happiness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fun fact: 3/4 of these girls are real naruto characters...


End file.
